Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Really LONG Story-End of Year personal blog, and...

If you are reading this, you are probably one of my Twitter-followers, so I'm addressing this blog, mainly to them, (you?). In any event, thank-you for reading this!
Apologies for being a bad-blogger! 
Sometime right after the blogger known-as Lynn Hudson died, Google put me on notice that they were pulling ads from this blog due to "adult content". Huh? They have the right, and the ultimate duty to protect their company, and their advertisers. I wanted to get into a war with them about, "adult content", but since they refused to tell me exactly what they meant by that, I was left to guess. If "it" was something that alerted their porn-filter/adult-content, the only "sex" that I posted here were some comments about a "same-sex"-wedding.  So, for those of you who support Gay marriage, I was willing to take one for the team there, but I never really found-out what the problem was.

There were also circumstances at that time that caused me to question whether this blog had been maliciously "reported". Carly Hall posted that Lynn had had some problems of that nature, and another "Housewives" blogger had posted a statement about "being reported" to Google. So, I was unhappy with Google, and possibly some random trouble-maker, or possibly someone who considered this blog as "competition", to their interests, so.....that's my excuse for not-blogging here.

Speaking-of Lynn, I have thought of her often since her surprising sudden death this past August.  I wasn't a big fan of Lynn's blog, but I had been there since the beginning. I respected her for her writing, and the enormous amount of work that she put into her blog. It appeared to me that Lynn had distrust and suspicions when it came to other bloggers such as myself, so most other bloggers were ultimately considered persona-non-Grata, or worse over at IHJZ, but I am fortunate in that my very last communication with Lynn, had been on friendly terms.

 So when she suddenly died on her 49th birthday, I was shocked like everyone else. I did some more research into the person who we all knew as "Lynn N Chicago", and I learned that her financial situation was beyond bad. I learned that in the week that she passed-away, her home was foreclosed. As a reader of her blog, I never would have guessed that her situation was so desperate. She did not share that with her readers, but if she would have informed her readers, her "LynFam", I have no doubt that they would have offered and tried to help her.

Which brings me to my personal situation. As some of you know, I found myself smack-dab in the eye of the super-storm that hit the East Coast this year. Being in the eye of a hurricane is all that you would think it is-its beautiful, and peaceful. Especially when you're experiencing it in a safe, DRY, place. Its the after-math that sucks.

What came-through my house is pretty-much what I would expect a tsunami to be like, without the white-caps. WATER and lots of it, and FAST. The water was gone almost just as quickly. (most of it-the rest of it lives-on as mold-spores).

I had a life or death experience when I had to make some quick decisions, knowing that it had come to a point that if I made the wrong choices, that it could cost me my life. Fortunately, I did not drown or get electrocuted when I swam my way to higher ground.

Why didn't I evacuate in time? I simply did not believe that the water would go much higher than I'd ever seen it in the 25 years that I've lived here. I knew that it was bad when I called my city's public works department and the man on the other end told me that the water had breached a high-tide line that had not been passed in the 37 years that he had been there. The storm was still hundreds of miles offshore at that time, but flooding had started on our barrier-island. There was one more low-tide cycle coming, but the water never went down like we had expected. I waited for my chance to leave during the low-tide, but the water just kept rising.

I was alone with my cat at that point. Most of my family had scattered and I had stayed behind to see which way the storm was going to go. Usually, a predicted storm would not make a direct hit and for this one we had to wait and see if it was going to make a left-turn. I heard the news that the storm had made the turn towards the East Coast at about four am. I decided to get myself to the mainland and I called my husband. He told me to wait for him. It looked like we had plenty of time-it wasn't even raining and the street was dry. My husband was taking-care of a dialysis patient and it was a matter of waiting for the patient's intravenous medicine to finish. By the time the he tried to reach me, he was turned-back under orders of FEMA.

This is where FEMA comes into my story. I could say that the actions of FEMA caused me to have to make life or death decisions , and that I resent FEMA for that. But I won't. What I resent FEMA for, is the hours and hours spent on hold with them on the telephone. And the efforts made producing, and finding the infinite documentation that they require. (hours that could have been better-spent cleaning-up this great big MESS!)

Why did I even bother with FEMA? Because I thought that FEMA would be my best choice in getting assistance. Because FEMA relentlessly advertised and solicited. Because I was unquestionably affected by the storm and I was willing to trust them with my personal information. OH-and because I had called The American Red Cross while my city was under martial-law, and after their voice-mail jail had asked me to "press 2 to donate blood", and "press 3 to make a ten dollar donation", I was disconnected. I gave The American Red Cross another chance to help me, when I had access to a phone that didn't run on battery-power and they told me that they only do referrals. I asked The American Red Cross for help two times and they had nothing available for someone who's home was destroyed. Not even a clean blanket!

When the water started coming into my house, I moved the cat's food, and litter-box to the second floor. I had intended to bring Bootsie with me, but since it now looked like I would be swimming away from the house if I decided to leave, I wasn't sure if I could hold on to her, or keep her in her cardboard travel-carrier. Before my mother had evacuated, she had reminded me that her friends, who lived a block "upstream" from my house, had boasted that they had never flooded.

The electrical power was still working in my house when I left, but it was the electricity that caused me to abandon ship. I opened the door to what used to be my laundry-room, and the floor was floating. There were at least three feet of water, and the heating system was sparking, floating, sizzling, and just looking surreally DANGEROUS. There was an electrical outlet in the floor of the TV-room, and I saw flames and sparks shooting out of it, and I heard zapping, sizzling sounds.

I grabbed what was left of a regular Italian sub, and some bottled-water and some home-made brownies out of the fridge, a flashlight, a radio, some dry clothes, and my purse, and I wrapped them up in garbage bags.
I put those things into a large plastic container that we use for our recycling and I tied a rope to it, and I stepped into the water.

The water was up to my chest and it was cold but tolerable so I slowly waded and swam myself up the street, dragging the floating-bucket to the neighbor's house where I rode-out the rest of the storm. The next day I went back and fed the cat. I think that it took about three or four days for the electricity to come back on on our street, and my town was under martial-law for about a week. Nobody was allowed to enter most-of the island, and anyone who left was not allowed to come back until the ban was lifted.

Almost everything on the first floor of my house is now gone, including the floor and the walls. (it has been gutted). I'm still here, with the cat, at what FEMA calls the "disaster dwelling". I have heat, hot-water,  electricity,television, internet, and a roof over my head. Its toxic here, but I have some reasons for being here. (see cat. plus family has relocated nearby. plus someone has to hold the fort down-don't they?)

I no longer have a refrigerator, a washer, or dryer. I have a hot-plate and a coffee-maker. Its the LAUNDRY situation that's getting to me. Cleaning-up after a flood is dirty, did I mention TOXIC-work. Just today I ruined another pair of boots. Not being able to wash and dry my blanket, towels, clothes...without having to improvise using the bathtub, is really getting on my nerves.

I've been keeping in my mind that there are people who were killed by the storm, and some who are worse-off than I am.  I consider myself lucky to still have possession of documents that are slimy with black-mold. And of course I am grateful for my own life, and everyone in my family, and everyone in my town-I am thankful and grateful that there were no casualties here. My elderly dad suffered a stroke the week after the storm, but he is recovering. So, we're ALL OK here. I really don't have anything to complain about.

But I have been complaining. I have been tweeting my frustration and complaints w/FEMA and The American Red Cross on Twitter. Did I really expect my government to be able to offer me any kind of assistance while there was a major event going-on? No. It was pretty much exactly what I suspected. Which was that I would be lucky to stay out of their way and visa-versa.

Did I expect that if I ever happened to be in-the-way of a major disaster, that FEMA would have assistance available after the event? I did expect that. They DID offer to relocate me at first and I did not refuse. The problem is that I didn't exactly want to be relocated. I don't have my own car, so anywhere that I would be relocated-to, I would be stranded as far as getting-around. After a few weeks, I told FEMA that since it didn't look like I would be able to do any laundry or store food, for awhile, that I definitely DO want to be relocated. I told FEMA that in fact, my "disaster dwelling" was becoming more and more toxic-(think asbestos, black mold, fiberglass, giant commercial/industrial fans and dehumidifiers, and God knows what else), and dangerous due to the after-effects of the storm and the construction, demolition going-on in my house, and all-over my neighborhood. Not to mention the hoards of trash-pickers, news-crews, construction-workers and random strangers who descended upon the area.

Here is where I guess I should mention that there was a fire in my home a year ago last July. What that has to do with all of it, is that the re-construction work that was done at that time, caused a lot of my things, including my piano, to be destroyed.
It wasn't the fire that caused my property losses then, it was what happened when the construction and cleaning people came through. Also-I did evacuate during hurricane Irene, and my home was looted!-They took the brand new television. Its not that material things are so important, I know that they are not, but I'm experiencing all of this as someone who has had things destroyed during repair-work, and stolen during an unnecessary evacuation.

AND-I am someone who has already been traumatized by a natural disaster/flood. It was that-"Perfect Storm", and that storm in 1992 was my very first experience being flooded. I dealt-with a life or death situation then, and destruction of some of my things. What shocked me the worst about that event, I've decided, was seeing WATER where I didn't expect it to be. Where water did not belong in my view of reality, and it was there, whether it was "supposed" to be there or not. I believe in the psychological effects of this kind-of trauma, because I have experienced it before, and I know what it feels like. For me it feels like jumping ten-feet in the air-being startled, when someone "sneaks-up" on me. When I start to notice that happening, I know for sure that my mind has not recovered yet.

So, yeah, I'm not completely stupid. If American hero's like a great number of War Veterans, not to mention police, and emergency personnel, can be profoundly affected by trauma, I at least know better than to think that I can just shake-it-off. My doctor agrees, and I'm on my way to using all of the mental health benefits that my insurance allows for this year, and into next. I especially want to pass that information on to anyone else who has been affected by the storm. Yes it will wear-off on its own, (trauma), and usually within a few months at most, but why chance letting it linger when there are professionals who can help you heal from it?

I'm sure that you had some adventures in 2012 too. Maybe those Mayan's were right after-all? It was TEOTWAWKI for many in 2012. (TheEndofTheWorlAsWeKnowIt in case you're not up on your eschatology/Dooms~Day lingo. And if you're not-what are you waiting-for? We don't have much time!)...

But I mentioned Lynn Hudson for a reason: She didn't complain about her problems on her blog, or ask for help. Maybe it was because she knew that her readers and Twitter time-line were the type of people who would offer help in a second and she didn't want to bother them with her problems? 

I saw the response and outreach that happened after Lynn died, and her readers and friends decided that they could help Lynn accomplish something that she didn't get a chance to do, and that was to provide a college-fund for Lynn's youngest child.

The closest I have been to blogging lately, was some time spent over on Famewhorga's comment-section. And, I posted a little-bit about my experience with the flood. The warm replies that I received there meant a lot to me, and emotionally, just knowing that there were other people who cared enough to reply with kind words and prayers, I honestly felt some healing and recovery from all of it.

The day before yesterday I was on another mini-rampage on Twitter. Complaining about FEMA, and how aggravated I am with my doing-laundry-in-the-bathtub situation. Some people replied that I had confirmed their suspicions about FEMA and The American Red Cross, (and that had been what I thought was my point), and some kind people had replied to me asking if there was something they could do to help. I said that I would see how things were going and let everyone know, and I thought about that.

I thought about my situation, and was it really that bad and should I turn-down offers of help? I've learned a lot from Lynn's story. Did she possibly make a fatal mistake in not accepting her readers help and generosity when she had the chance? (OK-I know that sounds dramatic, I told you I'm just a little mental from all of it) Do I have unrealistic mis-placed pride? And then I felt a little guilty for sounding so needy when so many people have it worse than I do. And I thought about FEMA, and the zillions of tax-dollars that are being collected and spent ostensibly meant to help people such as myself, and how wasteful it all seems when all that FEMA seems to be doing is wasting survivors time with bureaucratic paper-chasing chores, when we could be fighting black-mold, (my new hobby!), and cooking delicious meals on our hot-plates. It probably won't stop annoying me when I continue to hear just how much FEMA has spent on this particular disaster, and how much money has been raised from well-meaning people, when I think that much of those funds have been spent on administration and salaries of people who are in no position to do anything but refer people to other organizations who have nothing but the same to offer. (referrals to other organizations that do nothing but refer....)

Just for the record, I also contacted my pharmacy to see about having my prescription paid-for, because there was news circulating that FEMA was offering a month supply of prescribed drugs for people in the disaster area. Some of you know that I started smoking again, and I was hoping that I could take advantage of that offer to refill my prescribed nicotine-substitute, but the pharmacies around here were clueless so I printed-out the info. for them, but I had to give-up on trying to utilize that offer for myself. (more wasted time chasing non-existent, but funded and advertised "help" for disaster-survivors!)

Red Cross. FEMA. Help everywhere. Nope. Maybe if I was naked at a homeless shelter? But it sure doesn't look like a person has to be in that condition to be able to receive what appears to be  the tremendous amount of help that is being advertised. There is some rule that FEMA must receive a certain amount of applications for the help that they advertise before they can receive their funding. FEMA does not have to actually insist that those applicants complete the process/receive help, and in my opinion, FEMA tries to "weed-out/wear-out" the applicants by generally being ridiculous and making it nearly impossible to receive the assistance that they advertise to disaster-survivors. Then they can use the allotted funds to pay the salaries of the incompetent people that they hire. I wish that I had been more cynical before I ever contacted FEMA. When it comes to advertising, and getting those applications, they do a great job at it. When it comes-to their employees following-through with what they promise and what they are legally mandated to do, FEMA is a failure. Many of those employees spend their time wasting the time of the people who's disaster-experience has made their job necessary.

*I did receive a bag of groceries, (peanut-butter, cereal, spaghetti, and some canned tomatoes)- with no strings attached from the local Jewish Family Service agency. They have a food bank and they opened it up to everyone who was trapped on the island while we were under martial law. Since there were no stores open during that time, that was a life-saver for myself and others who's kitchens had been under-water.

I wanted to press the local chapter of The American Red Cross for one of their blankets. They told me that are offering NOTHING except "referrals". I don't need a referral-I need a clean blanket! I gave all of my extra quits and blankets to other survivors. The Red Cross has received a tremendous amount of donations for people in my situation. I feel used by them.

To the people on Twitter who offered to send help-thank-you! I don't want to embarrass you by calling you out, you know who you are. I really was tempted to say, here's my Amazon account, and here's a link to some clean socks and underwear in my size. The very idea of receiving clean laundry from you guys made my day. I cannot accept your offer right now because I don't think that I need it. But I want you all to know that your consideration of my struggles actually DID help me out. How hard is it to hand-wash a few pairs of socks and underwear?!!!! (not very hard really). After I post this blog, and a link to it on Twitter, I'm going to go do that. And while I'm doing that, I will keep your kindness and good wishes in mind, and I will send some good-wishes your way too. Yes, I spent a few aggravating minutes dealing-with disaster-related homework/paper-work today, but most of the day, I spent happily outside washing and scrubbing-away MUCK, and assorted flotsam left-over from the flood. I know that it was the boost from people's good intentions towards my troubles, that helped me get-in-gear there.

I have had moments of misery, and fear, and grief over the loss of my home, and my neighbors but I know that it will get better. It already has. I kicked that mucks butt! Aside from my own problems, I am very sad about the state of the world, especially the USA, in general. So many traumatized, screwed-up, doped-up, incompetent and stupid people and apparently it has come to the fact that as a country, we cannot even manage to keep our kindergarten citizens safe. It won't be too many years 'till I'm elderly, and I may have rely on others to protect my health and safety. I know that "we" ARE the government. Well-we're NOT doing a very good job as a government. But as individuals, we are stronger than we may even know. You guys individually helped me just by being there for me when I needed it, and literally helped me to help myself. THANK-YOU!

So-Here's-to wishing ALL of us, and our loved-ones, peace, and joy, and LOVE, for the holiday season, and a HAPPY 2013!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Monday, June 18, 2012

Promises of Drama to Come-Watch What Happens

I don't know about anyone else, but what I enjoyed the most about last night's episode, was that Melissa and Kathy were not featured in it very much.
Of course there was that scene with Joe Gorga selling his parents out, (and yeah, Teresa lets him have it for that in her blog), but other than that most of the episode revolved around the intense conversation between Jaqueline and Teresa.
Speaking-of the Bravo blogs, both Teresa's and Jaq.'s make us want to "watch what happens", because they both promise drama in up-coming episodes.
"I snap a little bit in next week’s episode. I felt rejected by Teresa. I felt like she was being so fake. I'm not proud of my behavior, but you will witness the "angry and hurt" me. I would like to call next episode my a--hole episode. We ALL have one. Enjoy!"-Jacqueline's Bravo Blog
From Teresa we get:
"You’ll see in the next episode that Melissa makes a surprising confession, and my brother and I come to an unexpected agreement. Giant shocker and small miracles, all in one."-Teresa's Bravo Blog
And Caroline blogs about Lauren's lap-band surgery that took place after Season 3 was finished, last September. But she mentions a "melt-down" that occurs during a camping trip. Will we get to see that?
"We spent the summer trying to boost her spirits and get her on the right track, but nothing seemed to work. She hated everyone, everything, and most heartbreaking of all, herself. She was in the hospital twice for panic attacks, and twice for extreme blood pressure levels. Lauren had a complete meltdown while we were camping in California that scared the hell out of us. Al and I decided that we needed to take drastic measures and we suggested to Lauren that she get lap band surgery."-Caroline's blog
Teresa's eleven-page blog clears-up a lot, and lets people in on some inside secrets like the fact that the same day that Jaq. and Ashlee's dad did the scene for Bravo where they Skype about how "awful" Ashlee is, what a loser etc., and they decide that Ashlee does not have a home to go to, well, Teresa clarifys by informing us that that was the very day that Ashlee's dad was arrested for his little arson charge.(Ouch!).
I know that I promised a "Part 2", or a separate blog to examine the phenomenon that Teresa has become, and just why she is so well-liked, (and it is coming), and Teresa, in my opinion is risking alienating some of her fan base by trying to help the Bravo viewers understand what really goes-on. In my opinion, the more that Teresa detaches from The Real Housewives of New Jersey, the better for her. Her blog was long, but it really is a masterpiece worth reading. She even talks-about wanting to write a book about her bankruptcy when she is legally allowed to do so.
Jaq.s blog on the other hand, is a confusing mess, and all over the place. I didn't care-for her little theory about Teresa wanting to "profit from people's pity"when she said it in the episode, so seeing it again in her blog didn't make me like that idea any better. Why does she care about that anyways? Jaquileine is so pretty and she can be so silly when she lets herself, but she has chosen to be Caroline's bitch. I guess it makes sense, because if Jaq. ever faced facts about how negatively Caroline has affected Jaq.'s life, it could be too much for her in my opinion. And mostly I'm talking about how Caroline set Ashlee up to be the black sheep, because no one was supposed to outshine princess Lauren.
Caroline also asks in her blog that people stop hating so much on Twitter and social media. Sorry Caroline-but she can stay-off the www all she wants. The haters are going to keep on hating.That's what the internet is for isn't it? She puts herself and her family on television, and we get to talk about them online.If she doesn't like that, well she knows what to do.
There has been some chatter about Watch What Happens Live, with Teresa and Joe Giudice last night, and the after-show that is posted online. I thought that the most interesting thing was when Teresa confessed that she would, "Leave the country"-(quote Teresa), rather than go to jail, which is exactly what I always suspected that Teresa and Joe have as "Plan B'. 

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Yes Hunny, it IS "The Teresa Show"! (Part One)

June 13, 2012- So I watched part 2 of, "My Big Gay New Jersey/Mid-West Wedding", and the most interesting thing for me about this episode has been Teresa's Bravo blog.
Yes, the Civil Union, or Domestic-Partnership ceremony was touching and sincere. And the wedding-vow scene was about the only part of the episode that seemed REAL to me. Maybe because I've been to a wedding in Illinois in June, and I have to wonder if no air-conditioning is part of the Mid-West tradition when it comes to weddings?
The perspiration on the groom(s?) was/were noticeable. Is surviving the wedding and reception and having a good time in sweltering heat part of a successful marriage-omen for Mid-Westerners?
I also noticed Joe Giudice's product placement scene in this episode.(When the camera zoomed-in so that we viewers could see the brand-name of some kind-of sex-juice that we could buy the next time we're in the grocery store) I wonder if Joe get's a cut of the ad-revenue there?
More Carolyn Manzo giving dirty-looks, and complaining in her talking-heads about Teresa......OK Caroline, we get it! Even Teresa finally get's it! (um-she did know that Teresa would SEE all of this on television-right?)
So what does Teresa do? Well, she is starting to respond/fight-back if you could call it that. Starting with her appearance on The View last week where she insisted on a solo interview-
And here is where I'll comment on Melissa's Bravo blog. Where Melissa goes on and on about how The Real Housewives of New Jersey is "NOT" "The Teresa Show". Sorry Melissa, The Real Housewives of New Jersey IS all about Teresa.
There really isn't much about any of the other cast-members that is compelling or interesting in my opinion, and when I took some time-out from my day last week to tune-in to The View, I caught one glimpse of Melissa and Kathy slinked-down on the couch and I turned-OFF the television and went back to my day.
Separating herself from the pack in such a clear way, only proved to me further that Teresa is the only thing that The Real Housewives of New Jersey has going.
The only time that the other cast-members are relevant at this point, is when they are talking about Teresa, and even that is starting to get old.
The thing about Teresa's Bravo blog that caught my attention, was of-course her going in-depth to explain how FAKE and PHONY her cast-mates were being about the magazine pictures and stories. I had posted a blog last week, explaining how that works, (how magazines will pay for photos but not interviews), but to see Teresa expose some inside industry info. to her viewers, and then to give the viewers a heads-up that there is more "bad-acting" from her cast-members in up-coming episodes, well, I'm starting to get the opinion that Teresa has literally lost-the-plot. Or maybe she was not given a script, or she was given a different script than the one that everybody else has?
This is where the enigma that is a secret, that is a mystery, that is the entertainment that we call reality television gets confusing. Scripted? Reality? Fake. Real??? And don't forget the EDITING!
(uh-oh, I better stop here before I get started on FRANKEN-BYTES! but that's a whole other blog post)
 I am a reluctant convert myself to "The Teresa Show". I was forced to re-examine my conclusions about her when she started gaining momentum. There was MORE to this Jersey Girl than we 1st thought-isn't there? She could have played in the mud with her co-stars, but she didn't. I had to agree with Melissa, who gave her Sister-in-law credit for having the guts to be seen in public after the embarrassment of The Giudice's financial problems and her husband's legal problems became known.
Even-if some of the Tweets, and blog-comments, and book-sales, are shills, or fake to make it appear like a public person has fans, there was no denying that Teresa Giudice had some REAL FANS. I made it my business to find-out WHY would anyone admire Teresa when she apparently lacked common sense in my opinion.
I don't know if I would ever call myself a "fan" of Teresa Giudice, but I started gaining respect for her when she pulled a classic, "ANNIE"-move, and stuck-out her chin, and kept-on going despite her haters and her problems. This blog-post is getting a little long, so I think that I'll break it up.
I have studied Teresa, and her success in depth, and I think that it has a lot to do with why The Real Housewives of New Jersey has become, "The Teresa Show". But I think I'll have to save that for another blog.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Season 4--Deja' View all over again and again

Do they really expect the hard-core viewers and fans of The Real Housewives of New Jersey to be interested in arguments over magazine articles that came-out last year? Now we're re-hashing "How did Teresa's relatives get on the show?", on The View, and then in the blogs..wait-a-minute! I thought we covered all that at the beginning of LAST season, (Season 3), when we were first introduced to the Gorga's and Walkilies?
Haven't most people who follow the series already made our minds up about how we feel about that? So what is the point? And the stories circulating that the Gorga's made a video promising to destroy Teresa? I can't be the only one who remembers hearing this before. And I'm sure that I'm not the only one who recalls seeing this video or still-photos of the supposed audition-video online or somewhere, yet now the existence of this video is being questioned. And no I cannot find it anywhere although I have looked, but from what I remember I distinctly recall seeing at least a still photo of the Gorgas wearing camouflage-gear, dressed like Rambo with ammo and machine guns, illustrating a story about how "desperate"-Melissa and Joe Gorga acted very Jersey-tough and parodied The Sopranos, and asked to be put on The Real Housewives of New Jersey.Maybe it was a Halloween costume? I don't know, but the "audition-video"-story is making its way around again, and if there is a season 5, maybe we will "officially" hear that story again then, or maybe IF there is a season 4 reunion, Andy Cohen will ask Melissa if there was an audition tape?
The only difference that I can see is that Teresa is starting to throw some zingers of her own towards her cast-mates. And although I can't blame her, I think that a great deal of Teresa's appeal and popularity has been because she has not made herself dirty by playing in the mud with her "frienimies" and family.
What Teresa did say on The View, that could be considered new, was confirmation that until she is watching the show, she really did not know about all the dirty-looks, and nasty comments that her co-stars, mainly the Manzo family, were directing towards her. Teresa told us several times on The View that seeing and learning all of this now is "hurtful". (and by several times, I mean using that exact word "hurtful", which I found strange in her delivery. She used the word verbatim, almost like she was afraid to deviate from the exact words that she had been scripted/ or coached to say. How hard would it be to change-up the words so it wouldn't sound so stiff?). Personally, I thought that it would sound much more natural for Teresa to say, "My feelings have been really hurt.", instead-of, "It is hurtful." Here's a paraphrased transcript of Teresa's interview from The View:

Barbara- "Would you do another season?"
Teresa- "Its been hurtful, Barbara."
Barbara -"how does it make you feel seeing what they say behind your back?"
Teresa- "It has been...hurtful."
Barbara-"So, if they offered you a chance to come back next season, would you do it? You're planning on coming back-right, you won't turn-down an offer-would you?"
Teresa-"It has been very, uh, its been hurtful?"

Another thing that feels as recycled as an episode of House, is the winning Bravo formula of "mean girls", and picking-on the underdog. Everybody loves an underdog-right? It worked for Bethenny, why won't the same thing work for Alexis on The Real Housewives of OC, or Teresa in New Jersey? And in another of the higher-rated plots, it didn't work-out so well for Danielle, but the viewers did tune-in to watch, so it worked-out for Bravo.
Well-for one very important reason, reality is not drama. You can't have it both ways-either a show is scripted or it is NOT.  Using the scripted drama House, as an example of a show that had some success using a formula that everyone expected and enjoyed, (patient has strange illness, House almost kills them, investigate the patient's home, House takes some pills and saves the day...),  well, having some predictable familiar gimmicks is fun for a reality show, but in reality, people have a way of not doing what we expect them to do. They go "off-script"-or, improvise. Things happen that we couldn't even imagine. THAT is one of the reasons that people like to watch reality television.
And that's why when I watch an episode of House or Law & Order, I anticipate the expected formula, but I feel cheated when its served-up in my reality favorites. Because "reality" is life, and life does not play-out the way we expect it to-does it? 
Another thing that has been bothering me this season so far is the complaining about magazine "stories" being sold. I did a great deal of investigation into celebrity and gossip magazine stories when I was looking into the strange story about the little girl who's mother supposedly gave her botox©. It turned-out that the mother of the girl claimed that she had simply sold PHOTOS, and in reality those photos were allegedly posed to make it appear that the child was having her face injected. And the pictures were indeed sold for an admitted $15,000, (Good Morning America, a NEWS organization was involved in this alleged hoax. "We do NOT pay for interviews, but we DO pay to use photos"-was GMA's quote as well).link to botox hoax story
I know that has nothing to do with this,but what I learned in that instance was that publications, and even television networks, DO NOT ever like to admit for paying for stories or interviews. They WILL admit to paying for photos. So, all of this talk about Teresa "selling" her story, selling her apology...they ALL know that it doesn't work like that. Its the pictures that are being paid for. Sometimes the photos are brokered through an agent, and sometimes interviews and quotes are given, but basically, Teresa can honestly say that she has NOT been paid to "sell stories". (I'm sure that they ALL have been paid for their photos ;)). And if the people who choose the cover-photos want Teresa instead-of Caroline, THAT is who they are going to pay.
But we, the viewers of The Real Housewives of New Jersey haven't learned a thing about how that all works from watching the show, although I find it very interesting. Instead, we are being jerked back and forth between what happened, on screen and in real life/real-time last year, and Season 3/Season 4, (which we are seeing now. And they are blogging-about now, but which actually happened last year...and then just to make it MORE confusing, who knows WHAT they are Tweeting-about!). OH-and one other interesting current piece of information that was disclosed on The View, is that Teresa has not seen her relatives since the Season 3 Re Union, which was recorded last September.
-So it does at least make some sense, that Bravo had the foresight to get almost all of Season 4 done, before whatever it is that happens at the end-of Season 4 at the fashion show, and the Season 3 reunion, because Bravo must have had an inkling that they would not be able to be friendly after all of it.
I'm watching a repeat of Rosie and Kathy discussing Rosie's homosexuality right now and Kathy says to her sister Rosie, "When you came-out to me.", and it almost sounds unscripted, but not quite. Who uses such politically correct phrases with their own sister? Even-if it is a touchy subject, I'd have to imagine IF someone were to have a conversation like that in real life, that it would sound more like, "remember the first time that we talked about you being gay?", or is homosexuality such a tricky topic that sisters and close family members talk like that? (But friends and acquaintances and co-workers like Joe Giudice are graphic, insulting and crude?) .
Maybe the title of the episode should have been, "How to/How not-to talk to gay friends and relatives"? The entire topic just feels a little forced, and again-scripted. The sexy married-lady in the hot-tub party, just made me wonder if the Wakilie's didn't really know how to behave at a party, but that they've visited a few orgies with their hookah-pipe?

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Are we Being Fed a Big Fat Load of Lauren Manzo?

Did You see what I did here? YES! Its Smelly Melly's fatsuit!

This season's storyline for Lauren Manzo has been about her alleged weight-problem. I say alleged for a reason. I had my suspicions, especially since except for a few strategic camera close-ups, which were obviously done to make Lauren look as large as possible, I cannot, or do not see an obese person when I see Lauren on The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Yet Caroline Manzo goes on and on about it like its the great tragedy of the century. (Meanwhile, Caroline's estranged sister Dina, devotes time to children who are ill with cancer. No one needs to tell me why those two don't get along). So I did a little online research on Ms. Lauren Manzo, and it was her OWN message to a fan's question on Twitter, that convinced me that Lauren's "fat"-"problem", is nothing more than a BRANDING/MARKETING opportunity. Apparently, word is out that Lauren has allegedly lost some weight and she has been sighted out and about looking gorgeous and thin. Here's a photo from Wetpaint.com (article on Lauren link here) that they say was posted on Caroline's Facebook page. Notice the high-angle the photo was taken-from? And is Lauren following Jill Zarin's advice to wear THREE GIRDLES??? here? I'd hate to see the red-marks when she peels them off!
 From WetPaint "Weight Loss Alert"-story.

But as I said earlier, it was Lauren's own Tweet, that outed the marketing and branding plan. In the Tweet, Lauren alludes-to a deal being made.Someone had asked Lauren how she managed to lose weight, and Lauren replied that she cannot say yet because of "contracts". So she's waiting to get a deal to sell her , (alleged, supposed...), "weight-loss"/diet story to the highest bidder? Here's a screen-shot of the Tweet:
I know that I titled this post with a question mark, but I'm just going to come out and say that I think that the whole "Lauren is overweight", is a fake, phony LIE! I have to give them credit because usually we criticize the media for using Photo-Shop© and other tricks and smoke & mirrors to deceive us into believing that people are thinner, and/or prettier than they really are. This would be the 1st time that I can think-of, where the media attempts to fool the public by having us believe that someone is heavier. OH wait a minute! I just remembered those AWFUL super-close-up cover photos that The National Enquirer used many years ago, when they were feuding with Liz Taylor. But that is the only example that I can think-of, maybe there are more?
(THIS HAS BEEN A SMOKE-FREE BLOG)

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Last two posts invisable now due to False info posted by myself

Attention: I am making the past two posts on this blog invisible. That read-between-the-lines one was really hard to do, but there were serious UNTRUE accusations, posted by myself there so it needs to be redone.
J. Laurita, got-wind of my rude demands made on her publisher, and although she did not have to do it, she posted her current, valid, (as far as I know and I believe it) Cosmetologist License online.(link here)
I will say this in my defense- I was NOT one hundred per cent certain about what I was posting, but I had left a message in the voice-mail of the Nevada Board, and they returned my call the next day when I was away from my desk. In case it is not obvious, I do not know how to spell Jaq's 1st name. But that did not matter because the woman that I spoke with from the state Board told me that no one in the State of Nevada by the last name of "Laurita" was licensed. She also said that if I gave her the license number, that she could look it up that way but the online NJ database is pretty simple and it all goes-by names so I believed her.
I did ask how I could obtain documentation or further proof of that fact, and the woman told me that (incorrectly, which I just found-out earlier), "only employers" were allowed to have that information.
What I found-out earlier while continuing to research this matter, is that Nevada state law states that they MUST furnish that info. to THE PUBLIC if it is asked-for.

But back to my apology. Not only did I post, and rant-about mis-information myself. I mis-judged Jacqueline Laurita. Maintaining a professional license, while also raising a family, and being a Home-Maker, not to mention her career as a television personality...............well. I didn't think that she had it in her to keep-up with the hard and strict requirements of maintaining professional credentials, so I was more than ready to believe the WORST. And I am very sorry about that too.

I am also terribly SORRY for speading un-truth and mis-information to all of you here and on Twitter, and on Self magazine .com. And wasting your time with this.-HousewifeHater

Friday, April 20, 2012

Friday, April 13, 2012

I was Wrong About Lisa Lampanelli?

When I saw some of Lisa Lampanelli's comments in print the other day, I think that I mis-judged her.
Reality Blurred had a post entitled Lisa Lampanelli uses racial slurs against Dayana Mendoza http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/the_celebrity_apprentice_5/2012_Apr_10_lisa-dayana-racial-slur#disqus_thread
I don't want to post Lampanelli's comments here again, because they are ugly and I have come to the conclusion that any mention of Lampanelli's words, outside-of her insult comedy act, would be "out of context"-anyways.
When I first read Andy Dehnart's post the other day, I went on a little Twitter-rampage, then I did a little research on Lampanelli, then I wrote a reply to the item linked above.
I did not notice 'til after I hit "post comment" that there is a policy on Reality Blurred about using real names. Luckily I had saved my post before sending. So here it is:
 

I was horrified when I first read this article. I haven't missed one episode of this round of Celeb Apprentice, but that is ALL that I knew of Lampanelli. That, and she's supposed to be a comedian. If she has been telling jokes on The Apprentice, they must have been edited-out, because she hasn't made me laugh once there so far. The way she has treated Lou Ferrigno was just nasty.
I went digging for more info. Too bad I looked at her Twitter timeline first because I didn't find the funny there either, just what looked to me like an elitist attitude, and more (unfunny and ignorant for someone who apparently considers herself to be so much more intelligent then just about everybody else),- use-of the "R"-word. Can someone please send her that memo?

That, and the fact that she refuses to apologize for anything that she says.
I continued to dig because I really wanted to see at least one example of where she is actually funny or doing her act, and then I hit paydirt.
On Amazon there is a book about The Friar's Club, where she talks in detail (Friars Club Private Joke File page 232), and she admits that when she uses stereotypes, she is making-fun of the stereotype itself, or making-fun of people who believe such things. I don't want to speak for her but, this is a quote, "...If you've got a good heart and you don't mean any of the ridiculous things that you say...""--good heart, how would I know that? But she admits more than once that she doesn't believe the stuff she says, and I don't want to apologize for her but, in PRINT here what she has said does not come-across sarcastically, or even intentionally humorous. Maybe if I saw it or heard her saying it, it could be taken as "joking". It really isn't a good joke. Certainly not worth using an offensive slur.
-but I will say that I personally think that I misunderstood her intentions. If she doesn't mean what she says and it falls-under the umbrella of her, "insult comedy"- I think that she should at least recognize that a lot of people don't know who she is, so it would help her to introduce herself better if she let people in on her little "joke".



Here's a link to the Friar's Club book mentioned above:Friars Club Private Joke File: More Than 2,000 Very Naughty Jokes from the Grand Masters of Comedy

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Michael Mazzela does NOT want to be a Role Model!+ How to get Financial Aid 4 skool

Some of you here probably know that I am banned and blocked on that blog from Chicago. Occasionally, I lurk there and very rarely, in an "emergency",(like once or twice in the past year) I will post there using some random name. I saw something there the other day that I thought was important enough for me to post.
Unfortunately, the post did not get-through. It must have still been bothering me, because I then went to the trouble of finding one of the bloggers from that site, and contacting them on Twitter.
I asked this person if I could quote his DM, but so-far I have not received an answer on that. Actually, we had a few DMS. And yes, this guy got pretty nasty with me.
I'm almost afraid to post the quote from that site, because he became very annoyed-with being quoted with what he had posted but in the interest of making-sense, here copied directly, is the quote from that blog:

Michael Mazzella says:
April 2, 2012 at 12:52 am
I understand that but who is going to pay for it? I cannot get a scholarship I’ve tried very hard and the only person who would be fitting the bill is me… Education is great but there are other ways to make it and no need for me to its the many that did. I have always been a terrible student, always. I’m on such a good track and have made so much head way… there is not point in stopping….besides it’s not an option $$$ wise

OK-so, my reply that didn't get through was something-like, "I understand that you are doing other things right now, but you should be aware that there is something called, free financial aid, and most students complete the federal financial aid application and receive grants based-on income for education. -Just something like that so that IF there were some other young person, or ANY person who could be reading that, OR if Mr. Mazzela would ever change his mind, that he would know that there are funds available. I don't know exactly what the extent of his "trying very hard" entailed, but I DO understand that there are multiple fraudulent companies out there, besides the general competitive nature of most scholarship opportunities.
The quote above is a reply to a very nice message advising Mr. Mazzela to pursue his education.
So-for some reason, this was bothering me. The fact that this mis-information was online, and that apparently, Mr. Mazzela himself, was unaware of the opportunity for free financial aid for education.
So I Tweeted him. He replied that I should CHECK MY DM. We began a discussion, and it did get nasty, but it would not be right to post what he thought was a private conversation. At some point, I told him that I would be blogging about him, and I requested permission to post one of his DMS, that I thought pretty-much explained his view of the topic. He responded that he would like to have his say, so I invited him to email me, and I said that I would post whatever he liked.
The gist of the (140 characters at a time!), argument, was that I should MYOB. And that Mazzela did not need or want to per-sue any educational activities. Like I said here, and to him, that's his business. And-I respect that. BUT, what he didn't seem to understand, (or really care-about either), is that his ignorance of how paying tuition for higher education works, could affect OTHER people.
I tried to explain it in an excruciatingly 140 character at a time way. I just reviewed the entire conversation, and technically, he did give me permission to post it, but really that would not be fair to him so I'm not, you'll just have to trust me that he was pretty rude. Here is where I tried to explain how the mis/dis-information could lead someone ELSE astray:

 


Yes, I did get personal with the blogger and believe me I'm sorry if I offended him. He only had to tell me once that he really wasn't interested in school for me to get it. And yes I was concerned for him. I was worried that based-on what he had posted, that he had ruled-out the idea of being able to afford tuition, and I wanted to make sure that he knew that he obviously had not taken the correct steps when he was interested. His replies indicated to me that he should not have to worry that people would make decisions based-on what he had posted.
I guess he is right in that you really cannot trust any information that you see online. I learned that the hard-way that time that I followed the step-by-step instructions for cleaning my keyboard on a joke website that I did not know was a joke! But I look at that kind-of statement almost as a testimonial. I got the idea that he is tired of people telling him that he should be in school, and that's his problem to deal-with. If I were that age, and people were telling me that I should be in school, I guess it could be taken as an insult? I really didn't understand his attitude, but maybe it came-across as-if I were calling him "un-edumacated"? That was not my intention. Mazzela has chosen not to attend school, and personally, I think that he may be too busy for that right now and he's pretty clear that he doesn't want to be in school.Yes, I think that young people in general need to learn and become educated, but if they really do not want to be in school, that's fine too.  Ironically, he has chosen to put himself in the public as a talk show host, which implies a certain amount of trust in what he says. I'm sure that he'll learn how that works even without sitting in a classroom ;). If he sticks to talking-about what he knows, he should be OK. As long as he is aware that he may be called-on to set-the-record-straight, when he doesn't know what he's talking-about.
Also -Mis-information, dis-information,and mis-perceptions/deception are some-of the main reasons why I care about The Real Housewives and the ideas that people get from watching. Because the shows are aiming to be "aspirational", I think that its important to validate those aspirations. "Its ALL real"-"Its not real"-- Just recently, yet another Real Housewife, the new one on OC, was quoted as saying, "Its real". Well, in this case for example, someone who watches The Real Housewives, may be aware that Kelly, who's intelligence has been compared-to "rocks", and some other women who don't seem to be very bright, have earned degrees. Well, that may be true, but I'm sure that her education didn't hurt her. Using a little twisted-logic, I could see a person who's been fed a steady-diet of The Real Housewives, convincing themselves that they are already smarter than Kelly, so why bother? Personally, I think that Kelly must have been hit-on-the-head with a surfboard, or flat-out cheated a LOT, but that's my personal opinion on that. And I don't like cheating either, but just because there is some cheating and politics in education, well, that's life in general.
In case anybody is wondering how to apply for free financial aid. This is the official government website where the application is located. http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ If you notice, it is a "Dot gov"-site, and that is extremely important to avoid scammers. It costs nothing to apply, but you do need to have some information like your most current tax-returns. AND they have a deadline, (state and federal). So if you are planning to attend school next year (the 2012-2013 school year), it has to be done now. Even-if you have not applied to a school, you can go-back to the form when you know what school you want to attend. It does take about a half-hour to fill-in the forms, but at the end they can tell you what kind-of grant you can expect. Of course the college Board, or the SAT official site has links to scholarship applications, but I prefer the FAFSA because it is a sure-thing, and many schools require it these days. Also, if the grants that a person will receive, will not cover the expenses, including room and board, transportation, books...the FAFSA site also provides links to official student loan information. That is important because there are still some companies out there that would pass themselves off as "student loan", companies, but they would have someone paying tuition, or necessary finances, at consumer interest rates, which is ridiculous because the government student loan rates are at least 10 per cent less expensive. This financing goes for any type of education that is certified including trade schools and many certification and licensing programs as well.

Monday, February 27, 2012

I thought I said ENOUGH!?

OK-so this Taylor-story refuses to die already.
Let's just assume that Taylor Armstrong was abused by Russell, and I'll explain why even IF that were true, she still would not be an acceptable spokesperson for domestic violence.
Most survivors of domestic violence and abuse take a life-saving leap-of-faith at some point.
Taylor Armstrong did NOT do that. Her alleged abuser is dead. Game-over. She NEVER did the hard things that survivors do like filing restraining-orders. In her book she speaks about wanting to have a family relationship with Russell ON HOLIDAYS. Yes some divorced spouses can manage to get-along for the sake of the children, but in cases of domestic abuse and violence of the magnitude that Taylor claims, restraining-orders and documentation of the violence/abuse make sense. That is what BRAVE abusive-relationship survivors DO! Taylor Armstrong did no such thing.
Who could allow someone who committed the kind-of violence and rage that Taylor describes in her book, near their child or themselves? I'll tell you who, someone who has either NOT truly experienced such insanity, OR someone who has not even come close to healing, recovering, and surviving the turmoil, that's who.
The question is-which one is Taylor Armstrong?
In either case, Taylor cannot speak for survivors.In either case, and it can only be one or the other, all it tells us is that she is messed-up, not-right-in-the-head, and certainly does NOT have anything worthwhile to offer to anyone else, except the fact that a person can appear to look pretty and be sooo messed-up.
Yes, at the time of Russell Armstrong's death, Taylor was physically and probably legally separated from Russell, and separation in a sick marriage is a good thing. But many say that Taylor was only pushed to do that when Bravo flat-out refused to allow Taylor to be on the Real Housewives anymore. We do not have one concrete legal filing to prove that Taylor was ready to stop, "Hiding From Reality". Nothing, in the way of violence or abuse was officially documented by Taylor until after Russell was dead.
She claims in the tabloids that she was afraid to speak-out while Russell was still alive. OK, so she forfeited the chance to speak when he died in my opinion.  
And that brings-up the other problem. She just cannot have her cake here and eat it too. He is dead, and the fact that he can no longer speak for himself or tell his side of the story is seen as an injustice by many people.
The fact that this violent person that she describes, also happens to be her child's father, and that the child and his other children already have to deal-with grief, and suicide of a parent, and now this  half-baked biography, is another sore spot.
Lately there have been at least three newer blogs that have popped-up to discuss the disputed items and the details that were published in Taylor's book, and discussed on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills , and the book tour.
Chirpy, BravoTvLover, and some children who don't speak English as a 1st language.
The, "children"-posted an email purported to be a response from LAPD, in regards to Taylor's story, on their site today, and then they took it down. (yes I have a screen shot saved).
There has also been some blog-fighting over the "timeline"© (ha ha). For the record, TVTime101 posted the ORIGINAL timeline, WITH photos. That should have put Taylor and her publishers on alert that bloggers were ready with an endless multitude of photographic evidence. At least as-far as when and where Taylor was seen sporting a black-eye, injuries, or as it turned-out to be mostly NOT!.
OTHER bloggers and Tweeters, and Commenters took-up the task of working on the timeline© (ok-I think that I'm jk about that ©)  Namely, myself, and Diva over at the blog I will not name, and the people on the SurvivorSucks.com website, and then someone developed the Grandaddy-of-them-all, the Chicken McNugget of TIMELINES©, and gave it to StoopidHousewives.
When there was a squabble about that on SHW dot com by the way, I was able to sneak a post in there in the comments BUT in that comment, someone deleted my mention of the FACT that TVTIME101 did it first, I posted a follow-up and that Diva and others had done a lot of work too.
Through-out much of this, there has been quite a bit of blog vs. blog, or "blog-wars" going on. The "theft"-of the timeline©, just when "the book" was being released, was just one dramatic happening in bloggy-land.
Now I see BravoTvLover being annoyed and supposedly attacked, and I see BravoTvLover fighting-back, and possibly aligning themselves a little too closely with the Bravolebs who are generous enough to give them "scoops", and "WORLDWIDE EXCLUSIVE"-interviews.
 But BravoTvLover is walking a fine-line between impartial interviewer, and grateful, starstruck blogger. One of the "Taylor Camp", posts some "information", telling BravoTvLover that "hobby bloggers" cannot obtain police records and public information, and without even trying to obtain the information, BravoTvLover goes-on a posting rampage asking the media to obtain the public records. BravoTvLover then insinuates that ALL of the people who doubt Taylor's inconsistent stories, in-fact ALL bloggers are either violent imposter criminals, insane, or WORSE!
In any event, it appears that the "Ninja, Dog-fight"-(quote The Chirping Twit), as described in Taylor's book, on television by Taylor, on BravoTvLover's site, by someone claiming to have BEEN THERE, (and also claiming to have an 18 minute video of the event), is not dead-in-the-water yet.
Also claimed on BravoTvLover's site is that the incident occurred on or about May 22, 2009. That 911 was called. That an ambulance came to the residence on Roscomare Rd, in Bel Air., That Russell Armstrong made a police report of his own concerning the incident a few days later that may have been retracted. There is also the name of one of the alleged victims of the alleged incident posted there, and elsewhere, but personally, and being from NJ, I have a policy of not interfering in the personal business of people in the waste management business as much as I possibly can.
That in my opinion is enough information for anyone to request information from the LAPD. Even bloggers who may be fat, illiterate, insane, or foreign.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season II-is over, but Taylor Armstrong and/or her supporters keep trying to have "the last word", and continue to draw-out the story.
Is it possible that the mainstream and big tabloid blogging media, are blackballing Taylor, and refusing to post her stories/photos because of commenter-FLACK? And lack-of evidence which is why this topic refuses to die a merciful death?
Could that be the reason why flimsy verification of the tall-tales in Taylor's book are being force-fed to the public in excruciating and insultingly  teasing ways?
I really don't know WHAT is going-on behind-the-scenes, but it appears that we have reached an impasse' with the "proof", and evidence of that fateful Scalping Ninja, drowning-poolfight.
But even-if there IS proof, and it did happen, it really is time for Taylor to be a good Real Housewife, and let some of the other wives and shows have a little bit of the attention.
In other words, it is time for Taylor to put-up, AND shut-up.





Friday, February 17, 2012

ENOUGH!

If you get this we've both had ENOUGH!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Another Inconsistency Discovered in "The Book".

http://www.radnet.com/locations2.php?recordID=51
Thanks-to an in-depth discussion and post on the blog, The Chirping Wit, (link here) , where an anomaly with the date on the medical paperwork that Taylor Armstrong posted on her Facebook, (and then deleted), was questioned, yet another untruth from Taylor's book was unearthed.
The screen-shot and link at the beginning-of this post shows the hours of operation for the medical imaging place which was documented as performing the Cat-scan of Taylor's eye. Much was made of the fact that the document that Taylor posted, (and then deleted), was dated as having done the scan on June 22, 2011.
Here's another screen-shot from searching "inside the book", where Taylor says that she received this Cat-scan on June 26th, which happened to be a Sunday, when the place was CLOSED. I know that celebrities are used-to receiving special-treatment in the Thirty Mile Zone, but bringing-in enough staff to operate a CAT-scan machine for Taylor on a day-off, just doesn't make any sense, so I'll have to go-with thinking that the place was definitely not-open on June 26th.

A "mistake"? Just like using the term, "dislocated", as a medical-diagnoses, instead-of a "feeling", could be considered an "error"?
Like many other people who have been following Taylor's stories, I've done a lot of research to try and put the pieces of the puzzle together. Sorry but I can't recall where I saw the link to The AstroChicks latest prediction posted (this), but the advice that they give to Taylor is what I would say to her at this point:
"I don’t care much for who she is trusting right now, if I was speaking with her, I would tell her to TRUST NO ONE! If you can’t even trust yourself, how can you then trust another, especially when it comes to career and money!"-AstroChicks
-And in my mind,that includes Bravo Andy. Was Taylor in-on the premise that her appearance on Watch What Happens Live, was nothing more than an infomercial for "Norwegian Hair", or whatever product endorsement that Andy was pushing? Because I certainly hope that they don't expect people in dangerous relationships to follow Taylor's plan. 
We all know people who have walked-out of abusive relationships with nothing. Maybe those aren't the kind-of people that Bravo wants their viewers to aspire to be? Maybe those people are too busy putting their lives back-together to care about red-bottom shoes, or rented mcmansions, fake-eyelashes, or girdles?
And maybe that's why we won't see those people on The Real Housewives? That's too bad, because those are the "real" people who could really teach all of us a thing or two worth aspiring-to, isn't it?

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

The Book , How I "stole"-it, and did Dr. Sophy (accidently/iatrogenically) Kill Russel Armstrong?


 

I am not going to buy Taylor's book. I am not going to ask my local public library to buy it. I would not even borrow it from a public library if they already have it.
A commenter on Tammara's blog said that they would donate the money that they would have spent on the book to support victims of domestic violence. I like that sentiment, and the idea is something that could help right some of the wrongs that Bravo, and Taylor are committing by continuing to perpetrate Taylor's storyline. Right now,the Kindle-version is for-sale on Amazon for $11.99. 
There was only one thing that I wanted to learn-about from Taylor's book, and as-far as I could tell, (more about that and how to read the book for "free"-later. Access to all free-tips via Amazon link at top), the crucial info. was not there.
What I wanted to know, was simply, : 
"Why, and when did Taylor Armstrong have a Lasik© procedure, preceding the "incident" of post-Lasik© alleged abuse?
(copied)

Appropriate Candidates

Appropriate candidates for LASIK surgery are patients under 55 years of age with at least one year of stable vision and who have:
  • Nearsightedness
  • Farsightedness
  • Astigmatism

According to(link to source quoted above) LASIK© is only recommended for 3 reasons. No where in the book did I see any mention of Taylor having LASIK©, or even wearing glasses, until she claims that Russell hit her in an eye that "should have had perfect vision, because she had just had LASIK©" . There is also a lot of weaseling about exactly what happened to her eye. She mentions the "possibility"-of a "titanium implant", being recommended, but I could not see where she says that she actually has one. Many LASIK© patients report severe damage following the procedure. The, "flap-repair, flap-wrinkle" that she reports having on July 5th, 2011, weeks after Russell alledgedly hit her, is a common result of LASIK damage.
This is how I read so much of Hiding From Reality for free on Amazon.com: I have already downloaded and installed the Free Kindle for PC on my computer. It can also be installed on mobile devices. If you have a Kindle, its even better because with a free trial-subscription to Amazon Prime, you can actually download one free book if it is in the lending library, (along-with the other great "Prime" services like free-shipping, video...).
If you don't feel like using the download, no-problem, just click the free-preview where it says, "look inside the book". (But if you do download the Kindle-sample, you get a little more from the 1st chapter).
Also-you can see much more if you are logged-in to Amazon.
Now here's where it gets a little tricky, but it really pays-off. There is a search-box where you can enter keywords. I must have searched 75 to 100 different terms, and cross-refrenced that info. with the page/chapter outline that was available to establish a "timeline" to the story.
Posted-below are some highlights/review, but the most important thing that I learned concerned Russel Armstrong's death. If what Taylor says about Russell taking medication is close to the truth, I believe that Russel's death was directly related to the use, and sudden discontinuation of powerful psychiatric drug(s) that Taylor claims were prescribed by Dr. Sophy for Russell's, "anger".
In the book, Taylor reports that Russell had an immediate, and noticeable effect from the drug(s), even-though they had been told not to expect anything right-away. (I was unable to see if Taylor named the drug or not-someone should certainly ask her this important question but I have a feeling that the networks/lawyers/drug-companies will not allow that). By entering more search-words, I was able to see that Taylor also claims that Russell said that if he had had the medication ten-years ago, he would have spared people from his trouble. The book details further remarks about the meds, and then documents that Russell had been expected to refill the prescription on the Thursday immediately preceding his suicide, but that he neglected to do that, thus-terminating the drug without medical supervision. Unfortunately, that scenario is part-of the "Black-Box", side-effects, which are known to result-in accidental suicides due-to a chemical imbalance which is caused-by suddenly starting, and/OR stopping certain drugs. Russell Armstrong's suicide is a textbook example of the "Black Box"-warning suicide/side-effect.
What drug was Russell taking? I would like to know, but there are so many, including drugs like Accutane© for pimples-that are required by law to carry a "Black-Box/Suicide"-warning, that it really does not matter.
BLACK BOX from http://www.prescriptiondrugsarekillingus.blogspot.com/
Prescription drugs are very dangerous and in my opinion, if Russell really did take the meds, (and stop taking them suddenly without supervision), and he really did experience effects from the drug(s), it is very easy to draw the conclusion that Russell Armstrong was suffering a chemical sensitivity, (like an allergic-reaction).
I am not accusing Dr. Sophy of intentionally causing his patient's suicide. Most Psychiatrists put a lot of faith in prescription drugs. NOT-prescribing drugs could be considered "malpractice", and Dr. Sophy, (as-far as I know), was following the current recommendations for treatment by offering drugs to Russell Armstrong. "Drug-abuse" and misuse, occurs when patients do not follow the instructions given to them by a doctor, or pharmacist. The standard-of-care, when prescribing any drug, includes instructions for the patient to follow-up and discuss any changes to a medication regime, many times including a warning to notify the Dr. immediately, and not to suddenly discontinue a substance without a doctor's advice. Taylor also claims in her book that Dr. Sophy had not heard from Russell in the days leading-up to the suicide. If that is also true, Russell made a critical mistake. A mistake, that Taylor would certainly have known was serious IF she had known at the time, considering her own medical degree. (I sure don't have a medical degree, and even I know that this stuff can and does KILL!).
In my lay-person's uneducated opinion, I think that the coroner's report should list Russell Armstrong's death as, "Death by pharmaceutical mis-adventure."
What did I learn from "stealing" Taylor's book?
  • Taylor  says that she didn't like her life and wanted to be someone else.
  • In addition to student-loans, Taylor had a $30,000 credit-card debt in college because she liked the "Beverly Hills" lifestyle.
  • She seduced her best-friend's boyfriend
  • She had her breasts augmented and her lips done
  • Her aunt was in the music biz. and her mom was for a short-time
  • She studied medicine in college for some reason that she doesn't quite understand
  • Russell rejected her and gave her phone number to his friend and she finally accepted a date with friend to Russell's surprise-party. Hijinks ensued.
  • She claims that Russell's mother suffered "hypomania", and hinted-at a genetic source for mental illness.
  • She alludes that Russell had paranoia, delusions, and a possibly severe, undiagnosed mental illness
  • That Taylor was followed and investigated and Russell allegedly told her not to worry when her email was compromised  Apparently Russell's loved-ones were concerned about Taylor from day-1.
  • She reports going to a "sex-hormone-therapist/Dr." herself, to try and improve her relationship with Russell.
  • The bit about taking a gender-test to determine if Kennedy was a boy or girl.
  • That Russell convinced her to take a polygraph-test because she had a famous NBA basketball player's phone number on her phone.
  • That Russell beat her friend Jennifer's fiance, Mark, so badly that Mark needed new teeth.
  • That police were involved with that incident because-of the violence and that police questioned Taylor because Jennifer said that Russell tried to kill Taylor, Mark, and some dogs, by drowning them all in a swimming pool
  •  That Dr. Sophy is the greatest, and that Sophy consoled Taylor after Russell's death telling her that Russell had been very sick for a very long time and that Russell did not receive treatment soon-enough to prevent his death.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Thank-you and Welcome Home USA Soldiers!

Hopefully our country will have the opportunity to publicly acknowledge and thank our brave Troops. While we are waiting for that to happen, I'd like to extend my personal message to the homecoming men and women who served in time of combat. : Your service will never be forgotten. Your protection was felt here at home while you served us in those harsh conditions. I don't know why we don't say it loud-enough, or often-enough, but I am saying it here and now, and meaning it every day:

             THANK-YOU!